


Shantae: Half-Genie Mother

by WrestleCrazyGamer



Category: Shantae (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-07-02 05:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15789771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrestleCrazyGamer/pseuds/WrestleCrazyGamer
Summary: An incident with one of Mimic's machines causes Shantae to have a Magic Baby. On top of that, Risky may have found the one thing that can take out Shantae for good! Will Shantae be able to handle both dilemma's at once?!





	1. Magic Baby

Mimic’s latest and greatest invention was finally ready - The Mage Cannon. This would be the ultimate in anti-pirate technology if it worked. Shantae would be able to kick back with this in place.

“Uncle, are you sure this is going to work…?” Shantae asked skeptically.

“Of course it will, probably! It’s foolproof! To prove it, Bolo, hit the red button!” Mimic laughed heartily.

“You got it.” Bolo nodded pushing the button.

“Wait a second… no! I meant the blue button!” Mimic cried realizing his mistake.

The cannon began to bulk up from sucking up magical energy that it began cracking the ground. Shantae thought fast and used her Elephant transformation to knock the cannon down into the ocean. Just as she was dusting herself off with a cocky grin, the ground below her gave in making her fall toward the cannon as it exploded in a rainbow-colored cloud of smoke.

“Shantae…?” Mimic spoke in disbelief.

Shantae then crashed hard on the ground covered head to toe in black soot. She sat up wobbling with her eyes spinning. Just as she got her bearings a black ball crashed into her lap startling her.

“What the…?” Shantae questioned.

“Gaa…”

“Is that alive…?” Bolo asked.

“Gaa… gah…”

“It kinda sounds like…” Mimic began.

“A baby?!” Shantae exclaimed as she cleaned the soot from the object’s face revealing a baby’s face with purple hair.

Her sudden shout rattled the baby making its eyes begin to well up. Shantae tried to sooth it as the unmistakable sound of an alarm clock ringing could be heard. The baby then let out an ear-splitting cry as it unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity into Shantae comically showing her skeleton. After the baby calmed down they took it back to Mimic’s lab to clean up for a better look.

“Well. I’ve got good news and bad news.” Mimic told Shantae and Bolo as he entered the room carrying the now squeaky-clean baby revealed to have purple hair.

“Bad news first.” Shantae requested.

“I have absolutely no clue who the father is.” Mimic told them.

“What’s the good news then?” Bolo asked.

“I know for sure that it’s a boy.” Mimic smiled.

“So you don’t know where it came from…?” Shantae asked.

“Nope! I’m not a doctor, which is why I called for one. He said he’ll be here by morning with a portable blood test machine along with several other checkup tools.” Mimic answered.

“Morning?! What are we supposed to do with this kid until then?!” Shantae whined spooking the baby again making the alarm sound again.

“Oh no…” Mimic gasped.

The baby then cried again electrocuting all three of them comically showing their skeletons. When the baby calmed down a bit Shantae lifted him trying hard not to scare him more. To Mimic and Bolo’s surprise the baby began reaching for her to hug him with sparkly eyes cooing joyously.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you’re his mom, Shantae.” Bolo told her.

“What? First of all I’m not seeing anyone. Second, I’m a pure maiden. Third, I’m not even close to being ready for parenthood.” Shantae dismissed the claim.

“Well he’s certainly happy to be in your arms. So for now I’ll be putting him in your care.” Mimic told her as he dusted the soot from his outfit.

“Why me? I’ve got a job to do.” Shantae asked.

“Most of the time these days you’ve got loads of free time, so there shouldn’t be a problem with it.” Bolo told her.

“So you’ll be needing this.” Mimic chuckled handing her a baby harness.

“It’s going to look so ridiculous with my outfit…” Shantae whined.

“Tough luck.” Bolo shrugged.

“I’ve also prepared a diaper bag with everything you’ll need to at least get you to tomorrow evening.” Mimic smiled reassuringly.

“Kid’s going to need a name until tomorrow.” Bolo brought up.

“Let me guess, I have to name him too?” Shantae asked scowling at them.

“Thanks for volunteering.” Bolo smiled.

“We were going to do that but if you insist.” Mimic chuckled making Shantae red in the face.

When Shantae left she was about to slam the door, but had second thoughts remembering what happens if she spooks the baby. She gently closed the door and stomped away grumpily. No surprise, people were surprised to see her carrying around a baby. The worst case scenario occurred just as she was about to get to the lighthouse… Sky was coming from that direction, and she has the eyes of a hawk. She couldn’t hide from her if she tried…

“Shantae! Hey!” Sky smiled hurrying over.

“Hi, Sky…” Shantae spoke meekly. 

“Is that a baby?” Sky asked with wide eyes.

“I-It isn’t mine… I don’t think…? A doctor’s coming tomorrow to confirm…” Shantae told her nervously.

“Who’s the dad? How long have you been hiding your relationship from me?  _ Gasp! _ He didn’t knock you up and bail did he?!” Sky ranted, as Shantae was fearing.

“Sky… I think you’d have noticed if I was pregnant… let alone in a relationship with someone…” Shantae sighed.

“Let me fantasize. You know I’ve always thought that you’d be a cute mommy, Shantae.” Sky smiled.

“Careful… he electrocutes people when he cries…” Shantae warned her.

“I think that might be early signs of magic…” Sky giggled.

“Mind helping me look after him tonight…? I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to be doing.” Shantae asked her.

“Sure. I just gotta lock up and I’ll be right over.” Sky answered with a smile.

With Sky’s help Shantae learned a lot about caring for a baby. Since Sky was able to understand birds she taught Shantae how to read her baby’s mood by his body language and behavior in the same vein. Sky offered to take Shantae shopping for clothes fitting a hard-working single mom as well. 

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… if he were mine…” Shantae thought to herself as she drifted to sleep that night.

Morning came and the baby fondled her face, but she wouldn’t wake. The baby kept trying and Shantae moved in her sleep making him fall backward off the bed hitting his head on the floor. With the alarm sound and the baby starting to well up, both Shantae and Sky received a high-voltage alarm clock. Tired, and in pain, both girls took the baby to Mimic’s workshop. There a doctor with glasses and long flowing brown hair was waiting with Mimic.

“This is the patient?” he asked.

“Yes. Shantae, this is Doctor Burns. He came all the way from Ashville to help us out.” Mimic introduced the doctor.

“Ashville? How’d he get here from that volcano overnight?” Shantae asked.

“I travelled by cannon.” Doctor Burns answered pushing his glasses up.

“Seems legit. Let’s just get this blood test over with…” Shantae sighed.

The doctor began his testing and very quickly got his answer thanks to the portable blood tester. He came into the workshop entrance holding a piece of paper with his things packed already. Now that it came time for it, Shantae was nervous.

“The results are in. Miss Shantae, was it?” the doctor asked.

“Yes?” Shantae responded.

“According to the blood tests, this child is 100% biologically yours.” the doctor told her.

“What?! How?!” Shantae gasped as Sky preemptively covered the baby’s ears to dull the noise.

“I’m as baffled as you are. Both his X and Y Chromosomes say they’re from you, but the Y Chromosomes are supposed to come from the father if he’s a boy… but there’s no other traces of DNA to be found despite him being yours. This leads me to believe he was born by supernatural means. So I took the liberty of calling a colleague of mine experienced in these types of births. He should be here soon, he’s traveling by Express Cannon.”

“How soon?” Bolo asked when out of nowhere something smashed through the wall leaving a man-shaped hole in it.

A man with messy brown hair and pale skin then stood up from the dust. He was dressed in red flip flops, blue jeans, a black tank top, and a lab coat. In his right hand was a black medical bag with an odd symbol on it. He had dark bags under his eyes indicating lack of sleep too.

“Now.” the doctor snickered.

“You said to rush over…” the second doctor sighed dusting himself off.

“May I present Doctor Alexander Midas Pahr, PhD in Magical & Supernatural Reproduction. If anyone can figure out how this baby was born, it’d be him.” the doctor introduced his colleague.

“He’s a Magic Baby.” Alexander stated.

“A what?” Sky asked.

“Something you only see once in a blue moon these days. It’s caused when magic at a sufficient potency combined with at least 5,000 pounds of force or more. The key element when both ingredients of magic are present is the magical female in question must be in ‘season’, or when it is generally very easy for them to conceive. Now, has Miss Shantae come into contact with a powerful concentration of magic?” Alexander explained.

“Very recently. A cannon I designed may have… had a catastrophic failure. She managed to stop it, but got caught in the explosion.” Mimic answered him.

“I see. Miss Shantae this is going to be a very personal question, but is it your time of the month?” Alexander asked.

“I’d rather not answer with company…” Shantae answered.

“I can now conclusively deduct that Miss Shantae unwittingly gave birth to this baby now thanks to three factors - the magic that was concentrated into Mimic’s cannon, the explosion of said cannon, and last but not least… Miss Shantae being on her monthly cycle.” Alexander stated.

“Um, I know you’re the expert, but shouldn’t she have gone through labor and all that?” Bolo asked him.

“Yeah, that’s skipping an entire step of the process.” Sky nodded.

“Magic Babies don’t abide by human conventions during conception as it’s instantaneous. They’re born through a quite literal fusion of two opposing magics combined with DNA to take a physical form. Normally impossible, but it’s the medium of DNA that allows such a contradiction of nature.” Alexander explained to them.

“You have a magic tester thing right?! Test it!” Shantae cried in a panic.

“I can get the samples now, but I won’t be able to give you the results until morning.” Alexander shrugged.

“Good enough for me.” Shantae told him.

Alexander used an odd-looking syringe to get a vibrant pink energy from both the baby and Shantae. One more electrifying wakeup call, and Shantae was about done with this baby. Alexander was at Mimic’s workshop with a single paper and a small set bearing three beakers, the center one bearing a small amount of a blue liquid.

“He’s 100% yours, like I said yesterday.” Alexander told her.

“What? How do you know?” Shantae asked.

“Mix the two samples and one of two reactions can occur. It can stabilize into a magic drink and turn blue, or it can turn purple and explode in a catastrophic act of rejection. The stable reaction means they’re identical, which indicates biological similarity with a divergence of 5% or less or in layman terms familial relation. The unstable reaction means the magic has a divergence of 6% or higher, or meaning not related.” Alexander explained in detail.

“I guess this means there’s no denying it. You’re a mommy now, Shantae.” Sky smiled.

“I have to raise a baby  _ alone _ ?” Shantae asked.

“You’ve got friends. They can help you.” Alexander answered.

“Can you at least help us keep him from electrocuting us whenever he cries…?” Shantae asked with a heavy sigh.

“Oh, that’s a magic discharge meant to signify distress - he’ll grow out of it by the time he can speak. The best case scenario for preventing it would be finding the source of his distress and soothing it. That or start wearing rubber clothes to mitigate it.” Alexander suggested.

“This means you should totally get a raise from Mayor Scuttlebutt. I mean, there’s no way your current salary will cover rent, groceries, and raising a baby.” Bolo told her.

“He’s right. You might even get a doctor’s letter stating as much.” Sky smiled.

“Well, normally these are reserved for cases where the single parent is crippled and incapable of working… but I’m too tired to deal with that crap, so here you go. It’ll state by continent law he has to secure your job and a higher salary based upon how many children you have.” Alexander sighed handing Shantae a red letter.

“Holy snails, that much more just for having one kid?! It makes my current salary look like peanuts!” Shantae gasped reading the fine print.

“Yep. If he refuses, it’s as simple as reporting him to the police. He’ll be shown the door to his position.” Alexander told her.

“I guess this means that you need to give him an official name, Mama Shantae.” Mimic told Shantae teasing slightly.

“Ah, good, then I can get this finalized. I almost forgot about it, even magical and supernatural babies need one of these.” the first doctor spoke as he entered the room holding a birth certificate.

“I’ll name him… Tragedy.” Shantae grumbled.

“An actual name please, one people could take seriously.” the doctor sighed.

“Shantae, I know that it’s very sudden, but he will be relying on you to learn how the world works. Please, we  _ will _ help you… so be a good mom? Please?” Sky begged her. 

Shantae then lifted her baby and looked into his eyes. She saw so many things in his innocent gaze that she recognized from herself. No matter how she looked at him, it was like a mirror.

“His name is Magic.” Shantae spoke with a smile.

“Magic… family name?” the doctor asked.

“Oh yeah… all this time Shantae has never really used a family name, huh?” Bolo pointed out.

“Do you have one, Shantae?” Sky asked.

“Uncle Mimic...?” Shantae passed the puck.

“I was planning to tell you at some point, but never got around to it. Your full name, at least what was on your certificate, was ‘Shantae Genie Naturista’.” Mimic told them.

“Is Naturista even a word?” Sky asked.

“I think it’s a Genie word or something.” Mimic shrugged.

“Maybe it’s got something to do with nature? Shantae is really good with animals and everything.” Bolo suggested.

“Magic Naturista, then. I’ll have this copied for you and then archive the original.” the doctor spoke while writing it down.

That night an odd feeling came over Shantae as she cared for Magic. It was like a strong connection was starting to form. As they slept, a ship began cruising silently in the distance toward town with an eerie glow about it…


	2. A Ghostly Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning leads to an invasion. Who else could it be but Risky Boots. She's got a few new tricks up her sleeve though...

An explosion shook the morning startling Shantae awake also resulting in an electrocution from Magic. After managing to sooth him and put a pair of baby earphones on him to dull the sound, she looked out at the port. A very rundown and beaten up ship that didn’t look seaworthy in the slightest had docked and real pirates were fighting alongside Tinkerbats to ransack the town. She hurried to get dressed and made sure Magic was secure in the baby harness before setting out.

“I’m really sorry, but on short notice I can’t exactly hire a sitter and leaving you alone is not an option. Please try to bear with me while I work.” Shantae told magic as she gently ran her hand through his hair.

Once she reached the town she was already hair whipping baddies. The pirates were more capable than those she’s dealt with in the past forcing her to actually get physical with some while minding Magic’s presence on her chest. For some reason when she’d beat a pirate they’d burst into a cloud of blue fog. She also noticed a strain on her stamina carrying Magic around too making platforming a bit tougher.

“I guess my light workouts aren’t going to cut it anymore if I’m going to wind up taking Magic with me like this in the future… doesn’t help that I had to skip breakfast...” Shantae groaned as she took a moment to catch her breath.

“Goo…” Magic whined.

“I know, you’re hungry too… we’ll get a nice breakfast after cleaning this up, I promise.” Shantae told him.

She then continued through town and found that everyone was gathered in the plaza and tied up. Shantae would recognize the hat of the invader’s leader anywhere…

“Risky Boots!” Shantae cried in anger.

“Oh ho ho ho ho! Like my new lackies, brat?! They almost put my Tinkerbats to shame. They’re quite efficient at pillaging towns, wouldn’t you say?” Risky addressed her.

“Hold it… seemingly endless supply… ragged clothes… general lack of hygiene… those are  _ ghost _ pirates!” Shantae gasped.

“Actually, lass, we prefer the term  _ eternal pirates _ .” one of the pirates spoke up.

“Yarr,  _ phantom pirates _ also be a good alternative.” a second nodded.

“Quiet, you undead swabs!” Risky ordered.

“How did you even convince them to help you?” Shantae asked.

“It was easier than you think - parlay followed by making a contract with their captain. My soul in exchange for his crew was quite easy to negotiate. Turn out their captain was the understanding sort, he sympathized with my position of wanting to finally win.” Risky answered.

“It’s a shame that won’t be today.” Shantae growled.

“You think you stand a chance against me in your condition? You’re a little worn out, half-genie  _ zero _ . I could take you out… in… is that a baby…?” Risky trailed off.

“So what…?” Shantae raised an eyebrow.

“Oh… my… goodness… you actually settled down…?” Risky gasped.

“What’s so wrong with having a child?!” Shantae exclaimed.

“Nothing! I can make the future guardian of this town fear me from an early age… by making him watch as I maim his mother!” Risky laughed sadistically.

“Hold onto him for me while I take care of business.” Shantae told Sky as she set Magic in her lap.

“Kick her butt.” Sky nodded.

Shantae felt nimble and loose with Magic off her chest, literally. She seemed faster than usual now. The fight seemed to be going just as they usually do, until Risky surprised Shantae unleashing a burst of dark purple energy knocking her back. All of a sudden Shantae went from loose to stiff and she felt like several Magic’s were hanging off of her. What did she do?

“Like it? A little gift between captains as a signing bonus on our contract. I can drain the energy from anyone and give it to myself or others. Quite the handy spell…” Risky smirked.

“I can barely move…” Shantae groaned trying to move.

Risky sheathed her sword and laughed as she began punching Shantae’s body and jaw continuously. The half-genie was helpless to defend herself. Shantae was covered in bruises and bleeding from the lip as Risky kicked her toward Sky. She was barely conscious as Risky slowly walked toward her. A very familiar alarm clock noise began to sound from behind her alerting to a welling up Magic. She very weakly pulled the baby onto her body and grinned as Risky reached her.

“Thinking I won’t hurt a baby?” Risky scoffed.

“No… I just realized that I neglected to introduce you… this is my son Magic… he electrocutes people when he cries…” Shantae grinned mustering what little strength she had left to pinch Magic hard.

“MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Magic screamed as he began bawling.

The electric blast that erupted from Magic was so intense that storm clouds gathered in the sky and it began to rain. Thunder and lightning began striking down from the heavens making the blast even more powerful. No one in the plaza was safe from the electric baby, but Risky was the center of the crying baby’s wrath. When Magic finally settled down a bit, sparking as he hiccupped, Risky’s eyes rolled back in her head sparking a bit herself. A gentle breeze blew by making the pirate fall on her back.

“Haha… ha… oh, it hurts to laugh…” Shantae groaned managing to sit up hugging Magic.

“Heheheheh, the captain’s bet was right on the money…” one of the pirates snickered.

“Her cockiness was her downfall…” another chuckled.

The pirates then lined up and formed two lines facing one another. A dark blue cloud then formed at the back of the lines. From it a tall and muscular man with very messy lower-back length black hair matched with a moustache-beard combo and ghostly pale skin with some skin missing showing bone here and there formed. He was dressed in black pirate boots, tattered black pants with a belt featuring a skull buckle, a tattered white long-sleeved shirt, a deep crimson captain’s coat, and a jet black captain’s cap. He had a very eerie blue glow to him as he walked down the middle of the line making the pirates salute. He stopped when he reached Risky at the end of the lines.

“Our contract is fulfilled… and now your soul is mine.” the evident captain spoke as he drew an odd-looking ceremonial dagger from inside his coat.

“Wait… she really did sign away her soul…?” Shantae asked.

“She was so concerned with beating you that she failed to read the fine print… one siege… win or lose… her soul is mine, and she joins my crew aboard the Wailing Siren.” the captain chuckled sinisterly as he struck Risky’s chest with the dagger.

No injury was made, but her soul was dragged out of her body with lifeless eyes and an eerie blue glow similar to the captain’s. The captain then lifted Risky and began carrying her off, and with a flash of lightning the pirates were gone. The remaining Tinkerbats ran around in a panic unsure of what to do. 

Luckily a traveling doctor arrived to treat everyone’s electrical burns a few short minutes later. Shantae’s extra injuries had her put in a bed though. She had more than a few cracked bones from the beating she took at the hands of Risky.

“Make sure that Miss Shantae gets plenty of rest. No strenuous activity either, those bones need to recover or else they could go from cracked to broken.” the doctor instructed Mimic, Sky, and Bolo before taking his leave.

“I’ll stay with her until she’s on her feet again.” Sky nodded.

“Thanks, Sky.” Shantae smiled.

“Still, to think that Magic could unleash electricity strong enough to change the weather itself…” Mimic mused.

“By the way, who was that ghost captain? He seemed like a real tough guy to be able to steal people’s souls.” Bolo asked.

“I actually had the library just outside of town start looking into that. They should get back to me on it soon. As for Risky’s body, it still has a shallow pulse but it’s completely comatose according to the doctor.” Sky told him.

“Able to take souls and make them part of his ghost pirate crew… kind of reminds me of the Legend of Davy Souls.” Mimic joked.

“Who?” Shantae asked.

“Oh it’s just an old wives tale told to me when I was a boy to make me behave and go to sleep. I don’t remember the words to the song, but basically it says if you don’t be a good boy or girl and go to sleep then Davy Souls will come in the night to make you part of his crew for all eternity. Sometimes if you listen very carefully around midnight you can hear the bell that’s supposedly on his ship, beckoning to naughty children.” Mimic answered with a chuckle.

“That’s not creepy in the slightest…” Shantae joked nervously.

“Well, make sure to rest up. I took the liberty of making sure Mayor Scuttlebutt knows your situation, so there’s no danger there.” Mimic smiled before taking his leave.

“As for you, Bolo, here’s a list of things I need you to fetch. Do it in under an hour.” Sky ordered handing him a list.

“Oh man, that means I gotta book it.” Bolo whined before taking off.

A week passed and Sky hurried into the lighthouse in a panic one morning. She looked uncharacteristically pale. It was like she’d seen a ghost or something.

“That ghost was the real deal.” Sky spoke.

“Okay…? Can I get a bit of context…?” Shantae asked as she fed Magic.

“The ghost pirate captain, they didn’t recognize him but they said they’d recognize the ship description anywhere - The Wailing Siren, the legendary ship of one Davy Souls. The dagger he used is called the Soul of the Beholder, one of four Beholder Artifacts that holds a supernatural power regarding the properties of life. They’re the Eye of the Beholder, that can extinguish life, the Soul of the Beholder, that can steal and enslave someone’s soul, the Heart of the Beholder, that can restore someone’s soul, and the Skull of the Beholder, which can give life back to the departed. His goal is to gather the four to obtain eternal life.” Sky answered.

“There’s a lot that I can do about that with my cracked bones…” Shantae told her with a disgruntled expression.

“It’s terrifying isn’t it? Someone like that was just here a week ago…” Sky asked shaking a bit.

“I’ll look into it once I’m cleared to be back in action. For now I have to take it easy and look after Magic.” Shanae reassured her.

“Speaking of Magic, that guy specializing in magic came by and asked how Magic was doing. He said that having magic strong enough to change the weather is highly unusual at his age, so he’s going to see a colleague with experience working with Magic Babies.” Sky told her.

“Unusual how…?” Shantae asked.

“Something about his body not being able to properly control it. What he told me was mostly scientific gibberish, but what I managed to decipher is that his crying isn’t at electrocution levels on purpose.” Sky answered.

“Now I’m worried about him…” Shantae sighed.

Aboard the Wailing Siren, Risky’s soul had regained self-awareness. Her clothing had been changed to men’s pirate clothing with a tattered overcoat on top. Her captain’s hat had been replaced by a jet black bandanna bearing the mark of Davy Souls’ pirate flag - a demon eye with cross-swords.

“What the…? Where am I…?” Risky asked looking around the room she was in.

“The Wailing Siren. Ye be our new cabin girl, ye traitorous swab…” a voice spoke making Risky seize up.

Mopping the floor with an eerie glow was the Pirate Master. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Not only was he see-through, but he seemed totally docile too.

“What are you doing here...?” Risky asked him nervously.

“Use yer eyes, I’m part of the crew. Don’t go starting funny business. That’s me one warning to ye. Cap’n Souls doesn’t take kindly to dawdling either. Go see him now that yer up and at ‘em.” Pirate Master answered her.

Risky made her way to the deck and could see dozens of souls belonging to different eras. All kinds of races and species were serving him. Some she even recognized as people she’s plundered from. Loud thumping made her turn to look at the left-side staircase. The ghostly pirate captain himself, Davy Souls, slowly made his way down to the deck. A new level of fear was struck in Risky as he approached her.

“Good waking, cabin girl.” Davy spoke in a low tone of voice.

“Um… thanks…?” Risky replied and he grabbed her throat with a single hand lifting her up.

“When I say good waking, you respond with ‘reporting for duty, captain’... try again…” Davy scolded her as he got right in her face squeezing her neck.

“Reporting… for duty… captain…” she managed to choke out.

“That’s better. Remember this motto… part of the crew, part of the ship.” Davy spoke tossing her on the deck.

He then snapped his fingers making a mop and bucket appear at her feet and walked away. This was one sticky situation she wasn’t going to get out of easily. She’d bide her time and make him pay…


	3. The Case of the Homeless Mermaids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mermaids are all over Scuttle Town's port. Shantae gets to investigate.

It’d been three months since Shantae’s injuries were received, but now she was finally clear to be on her feet again. Magic’s baby vest still clashed with her belly dancer outfit though. Sky held up her promise and took Shantae shopping for stylish clothes perfect for carrying a baby while still being a hero. 

“You’re sure these will look natural?” Shantae asked from behind the changing curtain.

“Of course they will, I picked them with both style and the black of the baby vest in mind.” Sky assured her.

When Shantae moved the curtain she was dressed in black athletic shoes, white socks, black workout capris, and a red tank top. The baby vest made the outfit almost seem complete. At the least it went better with the vest than her belly dancer garb, that’s for sure.

“You should be good to go with that outfit.” Sky smiled.

After lunch it was back to town, where a new problem arose. Mermaids were all over the pier and docks. Some looked like they’d been hurt, others like they fled in a hurry. 

“What happened?” Shantae asked one of them.

“The  **_Devil of the Sea_ ** , that’s what. I thought our queen had sealed it away for all time, but somehow it got loose and wreaked havoc at Mermaid Falls. It’s unleashed its Kraken Spawn all over the place so we can’t even get to it without a fight… our queen is there fighting all on her own…” the mermaid wept to her.

“I’ve got my first job already, in record time. Just hold on, I’ll go help her out.” Shantae assured the Mermaid.

“Want to have me babysit Magic while you’re out?” Sky offered.

“Thanks a bunch.” Shantae smiled.

Shantae was dropped off and Magic looked a little sad. She got on her way and immediately very large purple tentacles came at her. With ease she dodged them and whipped through any blocking her path. She got inside a cave and a burst of purple smoke knocked her on her hind end. When it cleared who should be sitting on top of her with his harness still on but Magic? She was in disbelief. He actually warped to her?

“I know he said you’d be able to use magic… but it’s dangerous to be with mommy right now, Magic.” Shantae tried to explain to the baby, who just clung to her stomach defiantly.

“Alright… not like I can just turn around after coming this far either…” Shantae sighed reluctantly putting the harness on.

Continuing onward Shantae got to practice her backstroke, to make sure Magic wasn’t submerged and stayed as dry as possible. Kraken Spawn came at her deeper in the caves. Combat was still a little difficult with Magic, but at least her clothes were better suited for athletics. If things kept up she’d have to find an alternate weapon to use.

At the exit of the cave she came out onto a very large beach. Near the shore the Giga Mermaid was crying out as colossal purple tentacles squeezed her. At the base of them was a massive squid body with eight glowing red eyes swirling like whirlpools. This thing really was a Kraken!

“I’ve got to make it let go. Looks like I’m running Kraken Way to hit those eyes…” Shantae thought aloud analyzing the situation.

Shantae stretched a bit and took off leaping onto one of the inactive tentacles. She could hear the Giga Mermaid’s bones start to crack a little as she ran making her lean a bit to gain a bit more speed. Other tentacles swung at her making her perform very careful acrobatics due to Magic being with her, but he was cooing with joy as they bounded on the tentacles. At the body she had to use the spikes along its side to get up. She hair whipped one of its eyes making the Kraken scream in anger flailing its body trying to knock her off seeming to tighten its grip on the Giga Mermaid making her scream louder as the lower part of her arms went limp.

In a panic Shantae continued whipping its eyes when she could get solid footing. The Kraken continued flailing harder and harder until it threw the Giga Mermaid into the side of the falls causing rockslides around her. Shortly after Shantae lost her grip going flying landing softly on the Giga Mermaid’s bosom. 

“Just how the devil are we supposed to stop that thing…?” Shantae asked as the Kraken roared showing its mouth full of row upon row of razor sharp teeth that seemed to rotate like saw chains.

“She sealed it away last time by electrocuting it with an Omega Jellyfish. Sadly, they’ve gone extinct since it was sealed, so there is no longer anything able to produce that wattage anymore.” a voice spoke from above.

“Who’s there?!” Shantae gasped looking upward.

Standing on the Giga Mermaid’s head was a robed man hiding his face with a hood. On his person were numerous weapons of different variety. 

“I will heal the Mermaid Queen’s arms so she can seal it away, but you need to render that Kraken unconscious.” the mysterious man ordered.

“How am I supposed to do that?!” Shantae exclaimed.

“You have a human thunderstorm right there.” the mysterious man chuckled.

“My son is not a weapon…” Shantae growled.

“Not much of a choice in about a second.” he told her.

“What do you mea-” she spoke when a tentacle cut her off pulling her close to the Kraken’s eyes so it could glare at her.

“Oh no…”

The Kraken then lowered her to mouth level and it let out a very loud roar. No surprise, the alarm clock began going off. There was no escape from it, she was going to get the full blast of this. There wasn’t a thing she could say or do to calm him down…

“ **_MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!_ ** ” Magic screamed.

The electricity was bone-exposing this time, which was impressive since the only bone squids usually have are their beaks. Just as before, the weather quickly changed to a storm. Electrocuted tentacles could be seen under the waves for miles. The Kraken released Shantae landing safely in the shallow water. Despite the continuous electricity pulsing through her, she made it to shore and began trying to calm him down as best she could. She could barely stand as the blast from Magic began to subside. The Kraken then fell to the beach with a mighty thud colored pitch black by the electricity as rain poured down hard. 

“I’m sorry, Magic… mommy’s sorry...” Shantae sighed heavily as she hugged Magic to her chest as he hiccupped continuing to spark a little.

Without realizing it Shantae began to slowly and soothingly dance. A pink aura began to rise around them and slowly but surely Magic fell asleep in her arms. The Kraken then began to fade into ash leaving behind chunks and tentacles varying in size. 

“Huh. You actually killed it.” the mysterious man spoke in an amused tone as the Giga Mermaid let him down.

“Who are you, seriously?” Shantae asked him as he began carving the skin from one of the tentacle remains.

“The Mermaid Queen’s lover, and an expert on hunting monsters. The Southern Kraken is one of the largest monsters in the world, and sadly this one was the last of its kind. It was being mind-controlled by Davey Souls to find the Beholder Artifacts… it is a very sad event to see it become extinct, but know that you can take solace in the fact that you rescued it from it’s slavery. May it know peace and freedom in death.” the man answered Shantae as he began working with the flesh he carved.

“No offense, but she’s a hundred times your size…” Shantae told him.

“Don’t be silly, we have a magic spell to compensate for our size difference in times of passion.” he chuckled stretching and fitting the flesh.

“What are you working on… exactly?” Shantae asked.

“A Kraken Skin Whip. You won’t find a more trustworthy medium-ranged weapon that doesn’t require reloading.” he answered presenting the finished weapon to her. 

“You made that for me?” Shantae gasped.

“You will need a means to attack effectively in the future as your hair is currently unreliable. After all, a Magic Baby will always stay close to their parent in their early years no matter how dangerous the situation.” he told her.

“Guess that explains the teleport magic…” Shantae sighed taking the whip from him.

“Be aware, that whip has magical properties of its own. It can grapple onto objects with a mighty grip similar to the tentacle of a Kraken and even stretch to nab far off items. It has other uses as well, but where’s the fun in spoiling them all?” he explained to her.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Shantae smiled.

“I shall go and tell the other merfolk that it is safe to return home.” he nodded before boarding the Mermaid Queen’s hand.

Back in Scuttle Town, Sky ran up to Shantae in a panic. It was obvious she had no clue where Magic had been. In fact, she was sweating heavily and was out of breath… had she been running around this entire time looking for him? 

“Shantae… I’m sorry… he just… poof… and gone…” Sky tried to explain while catching her breath.

“Sorry about that. This guy in a cloak told me Magic Babies stay close to their parents out of instinct, so he teleported to me…” Shantae apologized bowing a bit being sure she didn’t disturb Magic, who was still sleeping.

“Whoa, you put him to sleep? Usually it takes hours...” Sky pointed out.

“I think I came up with a dance that seems to work wonders. It calms him down and makes him feel safe.” Shantae smiled.

“You really looked like a mommy just then…” Sky gasped.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shantae asked raising an eyebrow.

“I think your maternal instincts are waking up, Shantae.” Sky giggled. 

“I wish I didn’t have to keep resorting to his cries to stop the bad guys… especially since it hits me too...” Shantae sighed.

It seemed that some of the mermaids decided to remain in Scuttle Town as residents though. Some even had relationships with the local sailors too. Night soon came and all seemed peaceful. A small noise woke Shantae from her sleep to find Magic floating in front of a glowing blue light. Baffled she hurried out of bed to grab Magic.

“ _ Child of the Genies… it has been some time. _ ” a voice spoke from the light.

“It’s you... “ Shantae gasped.

“ _ Listen carefully to my words. Your son is very important to this realm. We of the Genie Realm have read his future, and there are only two outcomes. He will either be this world’s savior, or he will be this world’s executioner. The future he chooses will be up to how you have raised him, my child. An anomaly though he may be, the blood of a Genie still runs through his veins. He will be able to use magic now and in the future at an alarming potency. _ ” the voice explained in detail to her.

“I’ll do my best.” Shantae nodded while letting Magic play with her fingers.

“ _ I have granted to your child a boon - a mental link with you so that you are easily able to tell what is wrong with him at any given moment. _ ” the voice told her.

“So like advanced Mother’s Intuition?” Shantae asked curiously.

“ _ One could think of it that way, yes. _ ” the voice chuckled.


	4. Why did it have to be spiders?

A week went by and Shantae moved like clockwork around the lighthouse exercising with Magic. She had went out and gotten books on how to maneuver with a child to study with. If Magic was going to tag along in the future, she wanted to be able to keep up her mobility and stamina. That also meant building up a bit more muscle to support it. 

Magic was also starting to figure out how to use small bits of magic without instinct or crying - mostly how to make an animal-shaped cloud of smoke or raise the humidity in a room causing shocks to be more frequent. Shantae was able to use her mental link to help him learn what “time and place” meant early after the mayor got a painful shock trying to open a door. She wished he’d learn to walk soon though.

“Shantae! We’ve got trouble!” Sky cried rushing inside.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Some people in town are paralyzed, but the doctors can’t identify the cause. They were all found in their homes like that.” Sky explained.

The trio went to the local hospital and sure enough, they were all paralyzed. Some were posed funny and others like they were asleep at the time. They looked like statues in flesh form.

“We still don’t know the cause even after a blood screening. They still have pulses, but they’re very shallow. If we can’t identify the cause then we can’t treat them…” the doctor grimaced.

“Hey, if it wasn’t by natural means, maybe that magical being doctor can help?” Shantae suggested.

“That crackpot? He’s always proposing weird theories and hypotheses for monsters…” a nurse scoffed.

“We may not have a choice. Modern medicine can’t identify the cause, so we may need to explore our options.” the doctor sighed.

“Glad you agree.” the devil spoke as he entered the room.

“Do you just wait around until someone needs you?” Shantae asked.

“No, I happened to be leaving the coffee shop next door when I heard my name.” he shrugged.

“Can you tell what’s wrong with these people?” Sky asked.

He walked over to the patients and then began examining them. With a huff he pulled out a book from his suitcase and began reading. After five minutes he closed it and put it back inside.

“Well…?” the doctor nervously asked.

“Do you recall the Drop Dead Incident in Turkey Town a few years back?” he replied.

“Yes, over 60 people were killed by a species of deadly poisonous spiders…” the doctor nodded.

“Well, this is a similar epidemic or at least it will be if we don’t find the queen soon.” he told him.

“Oh please.” the nurse scoffed.

“We’re dealing with a magic age species, one thought to vanish when all magic left this world. What we have on our hands is a resurgence of the Rainforest Skull Widow, known to grow to three meters in height and ten meters in length. The first bite paralyzes everything except for your most primary organs… the second is death. They paralyze a population one by one and then swarm for the kill. If there’s one then you can bet that it’s not alone.” he told them.

“Why did it have to be spiders…?” Shantae groaned.

“Your best bet for their nest is the Dark Forest. Rainforest Skull Widows love their dark, dank, wet forest dwellings. It may not be a rainforest but they’ll still make due if the other criteria are met.” he told her.

“Think you can get us there, Sky?” Shantae asked her.

“With gusto.” she beamed.

They took off on Sky’s faithful companion and even from the sky they could see the webs in the Dark Forest. It made finding a safe landing spot a little more difficult.

“Subtle, aren’t they...?” Shantae chuckled nervously.

“That’s as good an opening as we’re gonna find in a place infested with paralytic spiders… here we go.” Sky gulped nervously making her bird begin to dive in.

In a single swoop Shantae hopped off and Sky got out of there. Looking around there really were massive webs all over the place along with cocoons of unfortunate wildlife unprepared to deal with the invasive species. With her trusty Kraken whip she made short work of the webs blocking the way toward the massive tree serving as their nest. It was taking everything Shantae had not to lose her lunch at the animal remains.

Further in she saw some of the offenders in the flesh - massive spiders with a skull-like body with red and purple striped legs. Their eyes were blue, but turned red upon noticing Shantae. Despite their efforts they all split in half with each crack of her whip spilling clear fluid on the forest floor. Soon enough she was at the tree’s base. What she found proved this to be no resurgence, but a plot. There was a very large metal door instead of a hollowed trunk bearing a spider emblem of some kind on it.

“All right, time to get to the bottom of this infestation.” Shantae huffed whipping the nearby switch to make the doors creak open.

Once inside she found people with the spiders latched to them working the machines in a trance of some kind. Each worker she freed immediately lost consciousness making her have to hide them. The spiders were less focused on her in here for some reason. In fact, their eyes were purple inside of this place. It made it easier to go up the trunk at the very least. Whenever there was rotted path she had to  _ Indiana Jones _ her way across with poles on the wall.

Once at the top there was a simply massive spider with a large crown on its thorax. A robed woman with the same emblem on her upper back was chanting something at it.

“Hey you! I take it you’re the boss around here?!” Shantae called about giving the woman a heart attack whirling around fast.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that! Jeez!” the woman scolded her.

“S-Sorry… wait, why am I apologizing?! Your ‘pets’ are trying to devour my town!” Shantae barked back.

“How rude! My precious babies would never touch anyone!” she scoffed in offense.

“Who are you anyway?” Shantae asked her.

“Me? I am Widow Baroness, lover of all things arachnid.” she introduced herself.

“All things…?” Shantae questioned.

“Of course! Don’t you think spiders are just so cute? The way each species has individual ways of hunting, the way they breed, how they eat, how silky smooth the hair on some breeds is - they’re absolutely irresistible!” Widow Baroness fangirled making Shantae get nauseous just thinking about it.

“Listen, love ‘em all you like, just control your bugs! If they kill people it’ll be on you!” Shantae barked at her.

“What did you just call my babies…?” Widow Baroness asked as her eyes turned to red hourglass marks.

“I don’t care, control them! They’re icky, creepy, and crawly! I can’t STAND bugs!” Shantae blurted unable to hold her disgust in any longer.

“They… are not…  _ bugs _ !” Widow Baroness screamed before leaping onto the back of the giant spider making it climb down off its web letting out a ferocious roar at Shantae.

“Uh-oh…” Shantae squeaked as Magic let out a troubled coo.

The confined space of the treetop made it difficult for Shantae to maneuver with the spider’s spin and web attacks. Smaller spiders were crawling up the tree at Widow Baroness’s command as well dividing her attention. There seemed to be no end to the spawn.

A close shave shot panic through Shantae as one of the spiders severed the strap of the vest causing Magic to slide across the room. The spiders began closing in and she lashed them away as fast as she could to reach him. She got to him and he was tearing up, but he didn’t let it out despite the alarm going off… there was a minuscule cut on his cheek from the a spider’s jaws. Something snapped in Shantae…

“Get them!” Widow Baroness demanded when a colossal blast of fire sent the spawn running away lit ablaze. 

Shantae stood holding her baby and shot a glare at tear-filled glare at her as her eyes turned bright gold. She cracked her whip and it lit on fire leaving a scorch mark where it’d struck. Shantae slowly walked toward her lashing her whip lighting spiders on fire left and right. It wasn’t long before the entire treetop was on fire as Shantae severed the front four legs of the queen making it screech in agony. 

“I’m not letting your love for spiders put my boy in danger again.” she scowled before expertly cracking her whip to decapitate the queen spider knocking Widow Baroness from its back.

Shantae lit the queen’s body on fire before leaving the tree. The worker spiders were dying one by one as Shantae carried Magic home. No one who saw her come back into town said anything. Something very unusual was happening… Shantae had a murderous aura around her. Once they were back at the lighthouse she soothed him to sleep before treating his cut. After she put him down in his crib she walked outside looking up at the stars… and fell to her knees sobbing. Sky slowly walked up and knelt down beside her for Shantae to suddenly hug tight.

“He got hurt because I was careless… but I couldn’t leave him behind because he’d have just warped to me… what could I have done…? I don’t know if I’m a horrible mom or not…” Shantae vented through her tears.

“Shantae. In the end you protected him. Isn’t that enough? Magic needs you more than anyone else, and you were there for him before anything serious could happen.” Sky tried to cheer her up while rubbing her back.

In the dead of night in the forest, Davy Souls stepped on the ashes of the giant tree where a glowing green heart was beating on its own. He grinned as he picked it up dusting it off.

“The Heart of the Beholder… just two left.” Davy chuckled sinisterly.


End file.
